Allegiant to Revive Service at Akron-Canton Airport

A month after announcing it would pull out of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Allegiant Air said it will put down roots at the Akron-Canton Airport next March.

It will be the second time Allegiant has served CAK. It initially began flying to Akron-Canton in May 2015 but left in February 2017 in favor of serving Hopkins.

Allegiant officials said Tuesday that it will link Akron-Canton with four destinations, three of them in Florida.

Starting March 2, Allegiant will fly from CAK to Punta Gorda, Sarasota and St. Petersburg as well as Savannah, Georgia.

Flights will operate twice a week. Allegiant will be the third airline to fly from Akron-Canton to the Tampa Bay region. Spirit Airlines and Breeze Airways fly to Tampa.

Introductory one way fares to all destinations are priced as low as $59.

By moving back to Akron-Canton, Allegiant is banking that leisure and price sensitive travelers living in Greater Cleveland will be willing to drive to CAK, which is located between Akron and Canton in Green Township.

CAK had success in luring travelers from the Cleveland area in the early to mid 2000s when low fare carrier AirTran offered flights to numerous destinations.

Allegiant’s presence will give CAK three low fare carrier, all of which focus primarily on leisure travelers and which usually offer less than daily service on most routes.

At the time that Allegiant said it would cease serving Hopkins, it cited high airline fees as a factor, saying plans to build a new terminal at Hopkins would make the airline’s cost structure prohibitive for its business model.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Mike Graci, Allegiant’s manager for airport affairs, said CAK has lower operating costs than Hopkins, which he said it critical to enabling Allegiant to keep offer lower fares.

Graci said Allegiant is studying other potential destinations from Akron-Canton, all of which have beaches or cultural significance.

Ren Camacho, president of the airport, said no funds from a JobsOhio program created to help the state’s airports regain lost service were used to lure Allegiant back to CAK.

He said airport officials have been talking with Allegiant about reinstating service to Akron-Canton since Allegiant left more than four years ago.

Tags: airline service changes, airline service in Northeast Ohio, airlines in Northeast Ohio, Akron-Canton Airport, Allegiant Air, Cleveland Hopkins Airport, Northeast Ohio airports